Looking down from a mountain of victory by yourself is one thing.
Doing it with your best friends is another.
According to junior defender Quincy McMahon, No. 2 UCLA women’s soccer hopes to do just that as they prepare for the next step to reaching the mountaintop – a national championship – again.
“We’ve created a kind of atmosphere – we try to emphasize connectedness and also just closeness,” McMahon said. “I think that kind of demonstrates on the field because I feel super comfortable going to any one of the girls and talking to them about things, or if something goes wrong, just problem solving together.”
In her first year as a Bruin in 2021, McMahon started 12 games and appeared in the team’s remaining eight. Ranking second on the team and sixth in the Pac-12 in assists, she ended her season ranked No. 36 in Top Drawer Soccer’s Postseason Top 100 Freshman list.
Her experience carried into her sophomore season, when she was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for the first time after back-to-back shutouts at Utah and Washington State.
One year later, McMahon made history for the Pac-12, becoming the first player to earn four Defensive Player of the Week awards in a single season. She continues to lead the conference with an all-time total of five Defensive Player of the Week awards.
Outside of her defensive performance, coach Margueritte Aozasa said McMahon is a proven attacker.
“What’s funny is obviously she’s winning Pac-12 Defender of the Week, but she’s really winning it because of her attacking ability,” Aozasa said. “What we’re able to do is get our outside backs into the attack, and then we’ve been able to hold top teams to very few shots chances just because we’ve been super organized.”
As a veteran player, McMahon is now an integral part of the team’s connection on the field after being named captain in 2023. She said cameraderie manifests itself both on and off the field.
“The four starters we have on the backline … I live with two of them,” McMahon said. “In preparation, a lot of the time happens even at home, just talking to them, having those good relationships. We have a great group of girls.”
Now, the team is preparing for its next weekend with matches against California and No. 4 Stanford.
Ahead of the two games, both of which play a role in determining the Pac-12 champion, sophomore midfielder Ally Lemos said the key to winning games resides in the strength of the team.
“As long as we keep those vibes going and never really let it get negative, I think our team is really good at that,” Lemos said. “I just think our resiliency and just knowing that we can do it, it’s possible, is really going to help us lead us through these last three conflict games.”
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